As part of their social and cultural sponsoring programs in Yemen, the Total Foundation, the TOTAL Group, and its local subsidiary TOTAL E&P YEMEN have recently funded the restoration of two bronze lion statues. The two lions belong to the two ancient kingdoms of Sheba and Qataban in Yemen.

The restoration work was carried out in Paris, France, under a cooperation agreement between the Yemeni General Organization for Antiquities and Museums (GOAM) and the French Louvre Museum. The Cooperation Agreement has resulted in a program started in 2007 and aimed to support the restoration and the study of Yemeni bronze antiques.


Within the framework of this agreement for scientific cooperation, the Louvre Museum has welcomed two Yemeni trainees in order to perfect their skills in restoration. The Louvre Museum also contributes to the training of staff in some Yemeni museums.

The two bronze lions will be put on display in the Louvre Museum tomorrow, June 4, 2009 until October 5, 2009. After the post-restoration exhibition in Paris, the two bronze lions will be returned to Yemen for display in Yemeni museums.
    
This initiative is among others TOTAL has been engaging in. TOTAL funded in 2007 the restoration of the Bronze Man Statue which is currently on show in the National Museum in Sana'a.

“TOTAL is proud to have contributed to this unique project and will continue to participate actively in the development of the cultural relations between Yemen and France, “said Martin Deffontaines, the General Manager of Total E&P Yemen.

Total in Yemen:

Present in Yemen for more than 20 years, Total is the operator of Block 10, East Shabwa, and holds several other participations in oil exploration and production blocks. Since 1997, the Group has been producing from Block 10 and peaked the milestone production of 100 million barrels early 2008. Total is also the technical leader of the largest-ever industrial Yemen LNG project with a participation of 39.6%.